• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.310-315
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• 2012

A simple drying process was developed for the preparation of a Pt/Nafion self-humidifying membrane to be used for a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Platinum (II) bis (acetylacetonate), $Pt(acac)_2$ was sublimed, penetrated into the surface of a Nafion film and then reduced to Pt nanoparticles simultaneously without any support of a reducing agent in a glass reactor at $180^{\circ}C$ for 15 min. The process was carried out in $N_2$ atmosphere to prevent the oxidation of Pt nanoparticles at high temperature. The morphology and distribution of the Pt nanoparticles were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and we found that the average Pt particle size was ca. 3.7 nm, the penetration depth was ca. $17{\mu}m$. Almost all Pt nanoparticles were formed just beneath the surface and the number density decreased rapidly as the penetration depth increased. To estimate water absorption characteristics of the Nafion membranes, water uptake at an isothermal condition was measured by dynamic vapor sorption (DVS), and it was found that water uptake of the Pt/Nafion membrane was higher than that of the neat Nafion membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.389-398
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• 2017

The most important characteristic of the polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) for fuel cells, the proton conducting ability is mainly influenced by the distribution and morphology of the water channels inside the PEMs. Non-perfluorinated hydrocarbon PEMs are known to have weaker water channels than perfluorinated PEM, Nafion, and thus relatively low proton conducting ability. In this study, we used a mesoscale simulation technique to observe the water channel formation and phase separation behavior of hydrocarbon PEM, sulfonated polyimides, under the humidification condition. It was observed that the water molecules were distributed evenly through the entire hydrophilic region, and clear water clusters were formed only in the sulfonated polyimide having high sulfonation degree. In addition, it was observed that sulfonated polyimides have a difficulty in forming water channel under the low hydrated condition. These results clearly support the theories of the formation of water channels in non-perfluorinated hydrocarbon PEMs, and also well explain the tendency of proton conducting abilities of sulfonated polyimides. Thus, it is confirmed that mesoscale simulation techniques can be very effective in analyzing phase separation behavior and water channel formation in PEMs for fuel cells and elucidating the ion conducting abilities.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to compare the water channel morphology and the proton conductivity by changing the number of repeating units of the polymer backbone of PEMs, and to present a criterion for selecting an appropriate polymer model for MD simulation. In the model with the shortest polymer main chain, the movement of the main chain and the sulfonic acid group was observed to be large, but no change in the water channel morphology was found. In addition, due to the nature of the proton transport ability that is most affected by the water channel morphology, the proton conductivity did not show a significant correlation with the length of the polymer backbone. These results provide important information, particularly for the preparation of ionomers for binders. In general, a low molecular weight polymer electrolyte material is used for a binder ionomer. Since the movement of the main chain/sulfonic acid group is improved, it can play a role of enclosing the catalyst layer well. However, there is no change in its proton conducting performance. In conclusion, the preparation of ionomers for binders will require molecular weight and structure design with a focus on physical properties rather than proton transfer performance.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2007

The direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is a promising power source for portable applications due to many advantages such as simple construction, compact design, high energy density, and relatively high energy-conversion efficiency. In this work, an electrochemical methanol sensor for monitoring the methanol concentration in direct methanol fuel cells was fabricated using a thin composite nafion membrane as the electrolyte. We have analyzed the I-V characteristic of the fabricated methanol sensor as a function of methanol concentration, catalyst electrode and platinum(Pt) thickness. The fabricated sensor was analyzed by I-V measurement with various methanol concentration. When we measured the sensor characteristics with 10nm Pt and at 1V, the current value was $1.30{\times}10^{-6}A,\;1.96{\times}10^{-6}A\;and\;2.80{\times}10^{-6} A$ for three methanol concentration of 1M, 2M and 3M, respectively. When the methanol concentration was fixed at 2M, the current value of the fabricated device with Pt layers of 5, 10 and 15 nm thickness was $3.06{\times}10^{-6}A,\;1.96{\times}10^{-6}A\;and\;1.00{\times}10^{-6}A$, respectively. These results lead us to the conclusion that when the methanol concentration increases, the output current increases and when the catalyst electrode become thinner, the current increase more. It showed that, the thinner the catalyst electrode, the more electrochemistry become activation.